"The Hand constellation (nape), which was identified for us by Mr. William
Red Bird of the Rosebud Sioux Reservation in 1986, occurs in Orion, and
represents the hand that the Chief lost when he lost his arm. The belt of
Orion is the wrist. The sword of Orion is the thumb. Rigel makes the index
finger. The star for the little finger is the northernmost star in Eridanus,
Eridanus beta" (Sinte Gliske University: n.d.).

In the days when buffalo still roamed the plains,
the Lakota had to heed the teachings of celestial events
in order to survive. They learned through observation,
day after day, year after year. It gave the Lakota knowledge
to guide their annual food gathering and production
cycles, and knowledge of the celestial calendar served
their religious need as well. Ritual activities marked
the cycling of the stars. It gave the Lakota greater
power to participate fully in their environment.

The Lakota learned about the sacred order of all
things, in both realms of earth and sky, and about their
own place in the vast universe. Through their careful
observations of the star world, they came to understand
that their world of the plains was a microcosmic reflection
of the star world. These worlds are mirroring each other
- what is done below is the same above. This sacred
knowledge still guides the Lakota people.

Lakota
Star Knowledge - this origin of wisdom
is connected by the belief in the macrocosm (star world)
and microcosmic world of the plains. They are mirroring
each other: what is done below is twin above. This mirroring
attests to an understanding of many levels of reality.
First, the vortex above is a star and the vortex below
is earth; second, the vortex above is the sun and the
vortex below represents Sun Dancers; third, the vortex
with its apex pointing up is also the shape of the tipi,
a replication of the creation of the world.

Lakota Symbol

The stars are called, the Woniya of
Wakan Tanka, "The Holy Breath of the Great
Spirit". The sun, the Great Spirit, was giving
them spiritual guidance that they translated as to where,
what, and when to perform their sacred ceremonies.

The Black Hills are the spiritual center for the
Lakota people, viewed as the microcosmic hoop out of
which new life is born, each and every year. As the
sun travels its long journey through the Lakota constellation
so do locations of ceremonial sites in the Black Hills
change.

"The Black Hills is the home
of our heart, and the heart of our home".
David Blue Thunder

In buffalo days, the spring equinox
brought small groups from several Lakota bands into
the Black Hills. The summer solstice brought the western
Lakota and other Lakota bands to Devil's
Tower for their mid-summer Sun Dance ceremony.

During this annual ceremonial journey
from spring equinox to summer solstice the sun travels
through four of the Lakota constellations. The Lakota
were following the sun's path on earth.

Sun
Dance

The Lakota follow the sun's path on earth, through
the microcosmic hoop out of which new life is born each
year. The sun leads the people in their cycle of food
acquisition and ritual activities. This knowledge gives
the Lakota great power to fully participate in their
environment.

The first creation was accomplished through self sacrifice
and the shedding of one's life force: blood. As Inyan
sacrificed his blood to create the world, the Sun Dancers
voluntarily sacrifice their flesh and shed their blood
in order to re-create the world and renew life on earth
each year.
The Sun Dance is not a celebration by man for man; it
is an honoring of all life and the source of all life,
that life can go on. Only in sacrifice is sacredness
accomplished. The power to generate life is gained,
lost and regained each year, but only through sacrifice.

The Sun Dancers vow to recover the lost arm of "The
Chief Who Lost His Arm." This Chief is selfish
and his selfishness threatens to interrupt the cosmic
cycle. Because the continuation of life depends upon
self sacrifice and the chief refuses to make an offering
of himself, divine intervention becomes necessary. The
"Thunders" (Wakinyans) tear off his
arm and hide it. Fallen Star (who has a human mother,
and a spirit father - a star) must complete the process
by struggling with the Thunders to regain the arm. This
symbolically implies how not to behave. The Dancers'
vow to recover the lost arm symbolizes overcoming chaos,
death, and the earth's infertility. By voluntarily sacrificing
their blood, they recover the lost arm of the Chief.

(Background
courtesy Sinte Gleska University)

Medicine Women

Lakota women are powerful and highly respected
by their men. This connection is based in the connection
of women to White Buffalo Calf Woman,
the Winyan Wakan of the Lakota.

In the traditional matrilineal Lakota society, women
were the heads and owners of their tipis and camp belongings.
They possessed powers beyond men, gave birth, gathered
food, and were understood as equals to men.
The women raise the children in accordance with the
"Four Great Virtues of Life;" fortitude, generosity,
bravery, and wisdom. The children are to sit quietly
and absorb the teachings, following the expectation
of respect for the teachings and, in turn, respect for
the elders. The Lakota woman's greatest gift for the
tribe is the birth of children.

White Buffalo Calf Woman:
Lakota people have a prophesy about the white buffalo
calf. It originated approximately 2000 years ago by
the White Buffalo Calf Woman. She appeared in the cloud
to be a white buffalo calf, but turned into a beautiful
woman. The two warriors, who were at that time hunting
buffalo in the sacred Black Hills, saw her and one knelt
down to pray ,while the other had bad thoughts about
her, died. The girl told the warrior to go back to camp
and in four days she would bring a sacred bundle...

Martin High Bear tells the story of Buffalo Calf Woman.
Use 28k for all connection speeds.

Martin High Bear
Courtesy of Gordon Bird, Featherstone Productions

Lakota women play an essential role in religious
ceremonies. They are involved in three areas of religious
life; first, a woman can become a dreamer, through a
gift by the Wakan Tanka, or Great Mystery, to
have dreams of clarity and regularity in order to warn
people of danger or where game can be found; second,
medicine women acquire the power to heal, either by
the work of the "Spirit-Calling Women" (Wapiye'
Win) or by the "Herb Woman" (Pejuta
Win), or both (St.Pierre 1995).

Sweat Lodge- Inipi

The cosmology of the Lakota is mapped in the layout
of the sweatlodge. Lakota prayers are directed first
in the east, sun-wise, then facing each direction acknowledging
the spirits in that direction.

The Lakota sweat lodge is constructed with flexible
willows and during its construction at different stages
prayers are offered to the Wakan Tanka, or Great
Mystery. After the sweat lodge is erected, it is covered
with buffalo skins or blankets. Today, sweat lodge doorways
can be found facing to the west or toward the east,
the direction of light and wisdom, which is determined
upon the leader's spiritual direction. In this ritual,
the smoke from the pipe and the heat and steam from
the rocks release the guilt, burdens and evil from the
participants, bringing them closer to Wakan Tanka.

The sweat lodge has different healing and spiritual
teachings. The sweat lodge is used for spiritual purification
as well as body-toxin cleansing. Just like a child beginning
to walk their life's path, first they must learn how
to crawl. Crawling into the sweat lodge entrance on
all four limbs of your body is showing respect. The
darkness of the lodge is similar to that of our daily
lives, which is full of negative energies. After the
fourth round of songs and prayers to the Great Mystery
the people leave the lodge. The crawling out represents
the exiting "Mother Earth's Womb" and, along
with it, a spiritual rebirth has just begun. The rebirth
is one of wisdom and the light guides the "newborn"
out of darkness. Lakota cosmology and spirituality is
represented within the structure and rituals of the
sweat lodge.

(Background
courtesy Sinte Gleska University)

Buffalo

" First
known drawing of the American bison. This crude but
nevertheless quite recognizable representation of the
bison was printed in Gomara's Historia de los Indios
Sargossa, 1552-1553" (Garretson: 1938).

Background:
From portion of painting by Tom Haukaas, "Lakota
Wedding".
Used with permission from Missouri Historical Society
and the artist.